Corvette C7.R Revealed in Monterey

The Corvette Racing crew sure does know how to make an entrance. A week-long press event had just wrapped up in Monterey, giving journalists their first chance to drive the 2014 Corvette Stingray, which just happened to coincide with Monterey Peninsula’s Classic Car Week. What better time to give the public its first look at the C7.R?

Monterey’s week-long events were capped off by the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion in which approximately 550 vintage race cars compete based not only upon how they fare on the track, but also authenticity and “period correctness.” While the day may have come and gone for these cars, when motorsports legends wheeled them on the big stage for all the marbles, it was just the start for the C7.R. Factory driver Tommy Milner made two demonstration laps on Saturday, August 17th in front of this appreciative crowd of racing fans.

No prior notice was given before the C7.R took to Laguna Seca’s course (but of course Vette managed to get an inside tip), which maintains many of the C7’s key features and lines. However, it is considerably different than some of the C7.R renderings previously floating around on the internet. Of note is the front and rear air dam with a boldly reshaped nose. The front bumper deviates from production with a redesigned grille opening and more air ducting. No doubt further enhancements were made to the other ducting along the sides as well. The rocker panels and side exhaust match the air dams and is standard fair for a GT race car. Following suit, the aerodynamics are also augmented by a large rear wing.

Rumors have been circulating as to other details on the C7.R such as the powerplant – speculated to be a downsized version of the Gen V LT1, most likely 5.5L like the C6.R – and its color palate (most likely yellow/black). However, we will have to wait and see. Check back at Vetteweb.com for more details.

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